Maurice Leo Cooney Jr. passed on to eternal life on February 2, 2026. Born in Yonkers, New York on June 6, 1938, to Maurice (“Mo”) and Miriam Cooney. Maurice lived in his early days in the Bronx in New York City but moved with his family to Detroit as a child. He lived on the west side of the city for many years; after graduation, he served in the Army for two years. He then worked at the Detroit News while taking a class or two at a time at the University of Detroit, graduating in 1968. While at University of Detroit, Maurice met the love of his life, Kay Cordes; they married in 1968 and enjoyed 57 years of marriage. Maurice went on to get a Master’s degree in Education from Wayne State University in 1971, one of the first in his family to get an advanced degree. Maurice and Kay moved to Roseville in 1972, where he lived the rest of his life; Maurice taught middle-school English for 19 years in the Centerline school district. After teaching, he worked in sales and marketing roles until retirement.
Maurice was a life-long Catholic, though he would point out that he grew to accept his faith personally as an adult and that it anchored everything else about him. He was a parishioner and Knights of Columbus member at Holy Innocents parish in Roseville for 53 years.
People were the most important thing to Maurice, particularly family, including many from New York whom he kept up with. “Reece” would rarely drive by a relative’s house without stopping to call and see if he could stop by to see them; he would faithfully call friends and family on each person’s birthday, in many cases for over half a century.
Maurice was a kind and joyful person, always ready with a joke and a smile for everyone he talked with. He was always trying to get them to show their “beautiful smile.” He enjoyed science fiction novels and television and enjoyed spending time with family (which often involved card games).
Maurice is survived by wife Kay; by children Peter Cooney (Mary), Bridget Cooney, and Katie (Mike) Cooney-Schofield; by grandchildren Samantha (Matt) Stachowiak, Sarah Cooney, John Cooney, Teresa Cooney, Dominic Cooney, and Miriam Schofield; his brother Tom Cooney and sister Pat Gabli; and many nieces and nephews. Maurice was preceded in death by his parents Maurice and Miriam, his sisters Maureen, Jo Ann and Ginger, and his brother Greg.
Visitation for Maurice will be on Friday, February 6 from 3-8pm at Kaul Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Holy Innocents parish in Roseville at 10am on Saturday, February 7 with visitation at 9:30am prior to Mass.
